Comment 555 on “The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fourth Annual Collection”

1. Alytha says:

   at 12:42 AM

   Veeery long and detailed review I, Row Boat, by Cory Doctorow Probably the first science fiction story about scuba diving that I ve read The pun in the title is to be taken literally too In the far future, Earth is a protected nature reserve Humans have long ago uploaded their consciousnesses to the internet, and all kinds of things have become conscious and sentient Robbie the row boat is just taking people who have downloaded into human shells to go diving on a reef, as usual, when it becomes [...]

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2. Sandi says:

   at 12:42 AM

   This collection of the best science fiction stories from 2006 is hit and miss Some of the stories were fabulous, like Where the Golden Apples Grow by Kage Baker and In the River by Justin Stanchfield I, Row Boat by Cory Doctorow, the first story in this anthology, was a silly story that was mostly a sci fi insider s joke I couldn t even finish Bow Shock by Gregory Benford because it was boring With the exception of the Benford story, most of the pieces selected were good to excellent This book i [...]

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3. April says:

   at 12:42 AM

   Took a while to work through this It wasn t what I thought it was, but found some new to me authors to take a look at

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4. Rob says:

   at 12:42 AM

   As with many Year s Best type anthologies, it s difficult to evaluate the collection as a whole Unlike a themed collection e.g Wastelands Stories of the Apocalypse , you can t easily ask how each story is helping to advance or otherwise round out the speculation or evaluation of that given theme But that s OK that s not why we pick up and read a collection like this And it s a hazard we re willing nay happy to take on.That said, the rating for the collection here is a computed average of my rati [...]

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5. Petr Polovodov says:

   at 12:42 AM

   It filled with good stories The last Nightingale is truly terrifying And Every hole is outlined is remarkably interesting

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6. Staci says:

   at 12:42 AM

   This was a short story in the Year s Best Sci Fi 24th edition I read this in one sitting, and I was surprised that I actually enjoyed it I found the concept of nerve linking interesting Being able to inahabit the body of someone else in a different place for a short period of time In this story, Mick, the main character, links with a different version of himself in another worldline to spend some time with his wife who is still alive in that world, but who had died in his version of the world I [...]

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7. James says:

   at 12:42 AM

   every single one of these collections is essential reading for true fans of science fiction short stories each lengthy volume has a stellar array of all mini genres and areas of powerfully influential science fiction hard science, speculative, steampunk, alien invasions, apocalyptic post apocalyptic, space opera, fantasy, aliens, monsters, horror ish, space travel, time travel, eco science, evolutionary, pre historic, parallel universes, extraterrestrials in each successive volume in the series [...]

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8. Rick says:

   at 12:42 AM

   I ve read the first 4 stories out of this I loved I Rowboat by Cory Doctorow of BingBing fame, Julian, a Christmas Store which is the beginning of the novel Julian Comstock that I really loved amzn B0074CQJ9S , Tin Marsh which is really great, reminiscent of Golden Age SF, really reminded me of Brightside Crossing by Alan E Nourse, and the Djinn s Wife which I really didn t like Djinn s Wife is a story about an Indian woman who marries an AI She goes though an abrupt attitude change that was nev [...]

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9. Chris C. says:

   at 12:42 AM

   After having skipped last year s best of collection, I was ready to jump head first into this tome I m glad I did ad this one was a but different than years past I m not sure if it was intentional, but this year s stories seemed a bit on the long side, which was nice They were generally longer that a regular short story, but shorter that a novella This allowed many of the authors to go into much detail and provide a much fuller, fleshed out story However, I do feel that many of the stories cou [...]

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10. Jon Mountjoy says:

    at 12:42 AM

    It s a big book 700 pages with about 28 stories I enjoyed The Djinn s Wife , Good Mountain , Nightingale Alastair Reynolds can t say I enjoyed his other story here, Signal to Noise , and others I found many were a little too real I think there s a resurgence in hard science fiction and political science fiction, for want of a better phrase , and while I enjoy it, I still long for the esoteric especially in a collection such as this For example, I enjoyed Julian A Christmas Story as a story but [...]

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11. Nicholas Whyte says:

    at 12:42 AM

    nwhytevejournal 1896524Most of these stories were indeed fresh for me four I think were Hugo nominees, and I d read a couple of others in other collections or possibly even in the original magazine publication As usual, Dozois shows excellent taste, though my 2007 records are not in good enough shape to tell me if I think he got a better or worse result than the Hugo or Nebula nomination system The story that stood out for me as a new discovery was Carolyn Ives Gilman s Okanoggan Falls , a distu [...]

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12. An Odd1 says:

    at 12:42 AM

    The Year s Best Science Fiction 24th Annual Collection of 2006 short stories was edited by Gardner Dozois I tried, I really tried, but could not finish Halfway were okay Where the golden apples grow by Kage Baker, and Incarnation Day by Walter Jon Williams about rebellious teens and sad, scary, romantic Home Movies by Mary Rosenblum They were overpowered by nightmare Damascus by Daryl Gregory, where pathetic transformed to joyous mad cow disease victims are terrorist missionaries to spread their [...]

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13. Florin Constantinescu says:

    at 12:42 AM

    Take me back to 2006, please If the retrospective anthology for the year was so good, you can only imagine how good the uncollected stories can also be.In possession of 8 extra ordinary stories the Wilson, the Williams, the Levine, the McAuley, the Rosenblum, the Baxter, the Gilman, and the Barnes , a lot of above average other stories and few to none useless unreadables, this makes the anthology one of the best that GD has edited.

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14. Nigel says:

    at 12:42 AM

    This slab of a volume ate up a few days in an enjoyable fashion The worst you can expect in a Dozois collection is worthy but dull and overlong Outright bad is very rare the stories are always sure to be well crafted and well written This edition is solid Nothing boring, nothing spectacularly stand out either Memorable ones included Yellow Card Man and Nightingale, both rather nightmarish Robbie The Row Boat was fun and clever A good collection, overall.

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15. Paul says:

    at 12:42 AM

    Another strong collection Highlights are Nightingale, a strong horror tale by Alastair Reynolds in his Sky s Edge setting, Bow Shock by Gregory Benford about the mundanities of an astronomer academic discovering the first evidence of alien life and The Highway Men by Ken MacLeod, a near future post global warming story.

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16. Kristen Bongard says:

    at 12:42 AM

    Some of the stories were really great Some were disturbing That s what I like about short stories in collections like this You get a bunch of lots of things Many will stay with me Some I wish didn t But some will make me think I hope some develop in to books I will read these books Short stories are such an interesting medium They are very fun to read from time to time.

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17. Matt Howard says:

    at 12:42 AM

    Other reviewers have commented on the improved quality of this edition in comparison to recent years I certainly agree I think it s because this year s stories are less self consciously trying to be literary, and are focused on a tight story.

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18. Kenny says:

    at 12:42 AM

    2006 best of the year anthology This series has consistent quality over the years I always find a few stories that are excellent, and all the stories are worth reading If you like short stories, this is a great anthology to pick up Highly recommended.

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19. Aletheia says:

    at 12:42 AM

    Some weren t that great, but I adored The Nightingale, The Djinn s Wife, The Pacific Mystery, Kin, Signal to Noise, Incarnation Day, Okanoggan Falls this one made me cry , The Town on the Blighted Sea, and the Pacific Mystery D

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20. John Devlin says:

    at 12:42 AM

    If you read one sci fi book a year, this is the one Always stories of high caliber with a few tossed in that will keep you thinking weeks later, not to mention the collection is a primer for what science and technology everyone will be talking about five to ten years from now.

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21. Alan says:

    at 12:42 AM

    Best stories Julian A Christmas Story Robert Charles WilsonSignal to Noise Alastair ReynoldsGood Mountain Robert ReedHome Movies Mary RosenblumLife on the Preservation Jack Skillingstead

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22. Craig Bolton says:

    at 12:42 AM

    The Year s Best Science Fiction Twenty Fourth Annual Collection by Gardner Dozois 2007

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23. Cooper says:

    at 12:42 AM

    I can t get enough of Sci Fi short stories and Mr Dozois always picks gems The stories run the gamut in style scope and almost all left me with a satisfied smile.

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24. Kevin Gallan says:

    at 12:42 AM

    81 662

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25. Andy says:

    at 12:42 AM

    another excellent collection from the Master editor

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26. Patrick says:

    at 12:42 AM

    12 10 11 Tin Marsh by Michael Swanwick12 12 11 The Big Ice by Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold12 16 11 Damascus by Daryl Gregory12 18 11 The Pacific Mystery by Stephen Baxter

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27. bluetyson says:

    at 12:42 AM

    The Year s Best Science Fiction Twenty Fourth Annual Collection Year s Best Science Fiction 2007

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28. Emily says:

    at 12:42 AM

    4.5 stars A really great collection I forward to finding other years and reading them, too.

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29. Joseph says:

    at 12:42 AM

    Some great stories, some not so great stories Definitely required reading for Sci fi fans.

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30. Wm says:

    at 12:42 AM

    A preoccupation with AI s and humanity living on networks, but some very good stories in this edition There s even a Cory Doctorow story that I actually liked.

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